Comment 34105

By JonC (registered) | Posted September 24, 2009 at 22:14:20

I get snarky on line as well, so apologies back. You're right that there are people looking to argue against the project for any reason possible, and you might be surprised that I've actually criticized some of those arguments. Again, my objection is with the cost per unit, which we seem to be in agreement about.

If you are curious about the economics of the situation. The program that the grants are being applied for under is the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program. The funding is being provided at the federal level by CMHC and being matched by a combination of provincial&municipal funds. The requirements that CMHC have laid out for the program are below

http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Asset712.aspx or more in depth at http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/AssetFactory.as...

Presumably they are applying under Program A4 - ROUND 2 - RENTAL COMPONENT

"The maximum combined contribution is $150,000 for any unit, and is available only if the average contribution in a project is at or below $70,000 per unit."

So the project is looking for 120k per unit in funding through the program (+ the municipal tax break). Making it well above the average. Looking at past projects, only smaller projects geared towards individuals with special needs or victims of abuse appeared to be receiving significantly more than the 70k per unit. In most cases I'm all about trumpeting the complexity of issues, but in this case the money is being directed specifically towards affordable housing, and I can't image the project is delivering 5M more in benefit to those requiring affordable housing than the average project. But if it is, I haven't anything about it coming from the builder or the city. Actually, I hadn't realized until I was digging up the links, that they are asking for more money for this project than has been distributed across the city since the program's inception in 2005.

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